


Instructions for Dancing

by Chash



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 17:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5936269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The record will show Bellamy is not looking forward to Clarke's mom's wedding. He's trying to get over her. He should not be at her mom's wedding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Instructions for Dancing

**Me** : Have I mentioned how much I don't want to be here?

**Miller** : No.  
Twenty minutes of complaining before you left  
Five texts from the train  
And now this  
I don't get it  
Are you not having fun?

**Me** : [middle finger emoji]

*

Bellamy spends about ten minutes staring at the invitation before he calls Clarke and says, "Am I going to your mom's wedding?" 

"What? Fuck, no. I'd never make you come to that. It's going to suck. I hate fancy parties."

"No, uh, your mom actually invited me," he says. _Mr. Bellamy Blake, you are cordially invited_. In fancy black script. He hasn't been to a lot of weddings in his life, but all the ones he has gone to have been informal and laid back. Abigail Griffin and Marcus Kane's wedding is going to be the opposite of that. It's going to be like going to another planet.

There's a long pause. "She invited you?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No, it's--I just can't believe she did that."

"That makes it sound like a problem."

She sighs. "You don't have to come."

"If I don't, is she going to hate me? I thought she already hated me. Is this a peace offering? Seriously, Clarke, help me out. Is she gonna poison me at this thing? Is it a Red Wedding situation?"

That gets a laugh out of her, as he was hoping it would. "I think she wouldn't convince Marcus to propose and plan a giant wedding just to murder you. I mean, honestly, Bellamy, if she wanted to poison you, she'd probably just do it."

"Awesome, thanks."

"I did tell her she wasn't being--" She huffs. "I told her you were one of my best friends and she should get used to you being in my life, so maybe this is her way of welcoming you. She invited Raven too, so, yeah. Probably an olive branch. Congratulations. But you can skip it, I'm sure she won't mind."

"Nope, no way," he says. "I'm gonna be the bigger person. I'm going to go, and I'm going to be awesome. And I'm going to eat all the rich-person food, Clarke. No one can stop me."

"Your funeral," she says, but there's a smile in her voice that he's pretty sure means she appreciates it. 

He sends the RSVP card back that day, and he starts regretting it basically immediately.

*

**Clarke** : why am i in this wedding party  
plz come kill me

**Me** : I think there's security.  
There's no way I can get back there.  
If you want to die, you're gonna have to take care of it yourself.

**Clarke** : thanks  
i'm going to steal all your fancy food at the reception

**Me** : You're breaking my heart.

*

Going to the wedding was a bad idea to begin with, and it becomes a worse idea once he decides he's actively going to try to get over Clarke. Raven has a cute friend who's hitting on him, and it seems like the kind of thing he should, someday, be open to. If he's not making a move on Clarke, he needs to try to move on, and he's definitely not making a move on Clarke.

So it's stupid, that he's going to her mom's wedding. Raven's going, but Raven and Abby are actually _friends_ ; Raven broke her leg badly in high school, and Abby was the doctor who put her back together. Raven knew Abby before she knew Clarke, so it's not weird that she's going.

It is weird that he is; it's the kind of thing you do when you're in love with someone and want her mom to like you. It's the opposite of what you should do when you're trying to stop being in love with someone.

But he already RSVPed, and every plate at the fucking wedding probably costs ten thousand dollars, and if he cancels, Abby _will_ have him murdered. Clarke has been complaining about how stressed her mom is for weeks. Now is prime time for him to get killed.

So he's going to the wedding. And he's going to survive it.

*

**Me** : At least Raven and I look fucking hot.

**Miller** : Yeah I was really worried you wouldn't  
Kept me up at night  
Man, what if Bellamy and Raven don't look hot enough  
At this fucking snooty wedding  
How would I survive

**Me** : I'm going to stop texting you.

**Miller** : Don't get my hopes up

*

"Shit, look at this thing," says Raven, looking over the wedding program. "I love Abby, I'm happy for her, but this is gonna take like five hours."

"Do we get a break for snacks?" he asks, looking over her shoulder. "Fuck. Clarke has to do a reading?"

"It is her mom. She's supposed to be involved." She glances at him. "How's that going?"

"How's what going?"

"Gina bet you wouldn't show up because you're pretending you're gonna stop being into her, but I was keeping the faith."

He rubs his face. "I RSVPed."

"And you're still totally in love with her. It's fine, she's awesome. I don't blame you."

"Shut up."

"I'm just--"

The church is suddenly full of music, and Bellamy flaps his hand at her. "Shh, it's starting."

Of course, the wedding starting means that the wedding party comes in, and he gets his first look at Clarke.

He's not sure how he didn't realize that Clarke's mother's wedding would involve her in a fancy dress too. Of course it does. He and Raven look great in formal wear, but--he's never seen Clarke like this. She's always paint-stained and casual, wearing over-sized hoodies and ripped jeans, worn t-shirts and pajama pants. Clarke likes being comfortable, which means a lot of the time she looks like she just rolled out of bed and staggered to wherever they are without doing anything but putting on her shoes.

And he likes that look on her. He loves how warm she always looks, how easy she is with him. He loves seeing her asleep on his couch, wrapped in a sweatshirt she stole from him. He wants that for the rest of his life.

But _fuck_ does she look gorgeous in her gown, her hair up in an intricate crown, a bouquet of flowers in her arms.

Raven elbows him, and he manages to close his mouth. "So, it's going well, huh?"

"Shut the fuck up."

*

**Clarke** : these pictures are taking TEN THOUSAND YEARS  
please get me a drink?  
rum and coke

**Me** : Just one?  
Is that really enough?

**Clarke** : if you get me two, how are you gonna hold yours?  
i'm thinking of your needs, bellamy

**Me:** Appreciated.  
We'll have booze waiting for you.

*

"It's really unfair you have to wait until after the wedding to get drunk," he tells Raven. He's got a beer for himself and a rum and Coke for Clarke; she's got ten minutes to show up before he drinks it himself because it's making his hand cold. It seems fair. He can always get her another one. "Booze would have made that ceremony go so much faster. My wedding is gonna have an open bar _before_ it starts."

"It was nice, though," she says. "Abby looked really happy. Marcus totally loves her, so I'm gonna give him a talk later."

"A talk?"

"Sex talk," Raven says, flashing him a smile. "You know, what he can expect on his wedding night."

He snorts into his drink. "There is something wrong with you," he tells her, with some admiration.

"True story." She takes a sip of her champagne. "So, still in love with Clarke?"

"Still in love with Clarke."

"Yeah, well. I told you trying to talk yourself out of it wouldn't work. You can't actually turn off feelings."

"Not with that attitude," he mutters. "I'll get over her when she isn't wearing that dress."

"Well," she says, jerking her head to the door. "Bad news about the next four hours of your life."

She lights up when she sees them, brighter than she was during the whole wedding, and, yeah, it's _such_ fucking bad news for the next four hours of his life.

"Hi," she says, and he hands over her drink mechanically. "You guys look awesome. I didn't know you owned a suit," she adds, tugging on his lapel.

"I rented it. Nothing I own is this classy." He smiles at her, because she's his _friend_. He can be happy to see her. That's what friends do. "Good speech. It was a really nice ceremony."

"God, all my relatives are like, can't wait for yours, it's going to be just as beautiful," she says, downing her cocktail in one impressive gulp. "I'm never having a fancy wedding. If I get married, it's going to be small and nice and everyone's going to be able to drink _first_."

"That's just what Bellamy wants out of a wedding," Raven observes, innocent. "He was just saying."

"Bellamy's a wise man. I'm getting another drink, you guys want one?"

"Yeah," he says, finishing his beer in an epic chug of his own. "I'll come with you."

*

**Me** : Fuck, she looks so fucking good.  
This is not FAIR Miller.  
I'm trying to get over her, she's not supposed to look like this.  
I know you're not even into girls, but you'd be in love with her too.

*

"Hey, we should be dancing," Clarke says, taking the seat Raven abandoned so she could go flirt with Clarke's friend Wells. She wasn't sitting with them for the meal, of course, since she was in the wedding party, but the food was so delicious he barely even noticed. The wedding might be awkward and horrific, but at least he's eating well and there's an open bar. He even managed to congratulate Abby and Marcus and be pretty normal about it. Abby hugged him and told him she was so glad he could make it, which was alarming, but probably in a good way.

"We should?" he asks.

"We should. My mom got a live band. I've never actually been to a wedding with a live band. It's a life experience, Bellamy. We need to have it."

"Is that really a thing? Like, do you put that on your bucket list? If yes, your bucket list is a lot sadder than I thought."

"Who has a bucket list? You look hot and I want to dance."

He has no idea how he can possibly respond to that, so when she offers her hand, he just takes it, lets her pull him onto the dance floor and settle into his arms. He's not a good dancer, but no one really is, these days. Everyone is just swaying around, and it's hard to really fuck that up.

"I'm glad you came," Clarke tells him.

"You told me not to."

"I didn't want you to feel like you had to. No pressure. But--I am really happy you're here."

"Me too. The food was awesome. And your mom didn't poison me. Definitely one of my better weddings."

"Has anyone ever actually tried to poison you at a wedding?"

"No one's succeeded. But I have no way of knowing if they tried."

She laughs. "Healthy attitude."

The song winds down and Bellamy assumes she'll pull away, go to get another drink or something, but she shifts closer, rests her head against his shoulder, and he swallows hard.

"Are you having trouble with the wedding?" he asks. "You know if you need a hug, you can just ask, right? You don't have to drag me to dance."

"You don't like dancing?"

"I'm just saying."

"The wedding is fine. I miss my dad, but--I'm glad my mom's happy, and Marcus is good for her. I'd be way more upset if she was alone for the rest of her life."

"Cool."

"You know why she invited you?"

"I'm still assuming it's a trap, honestly."

"I told her you're important to me, and you're going to be part of my life for the rest of my life, and if I can accept Marcus, she can accept you."

His mouth goes dry. "That doesn't really seem, uh--the same."

"No," she says. "It's exactly the same." She nudges her nose against his neck, deliberate, making him shiver. "Also, you sent me some texts addressed to Miller. About how good I look and how you're trying to get over me."

"Oh, fuck."

"Please don't."

"What?"

"Get over me."

He can't quite see her, not really, the angle is all wrong, but she can see her eyes are closed, and she's smiling. "It wasn't going well for me," he finally says.

"Good."

He wets his lips. "I said I was in love with you too, didn't I."

"Pretty much, yeah." There's a pause. "I honestly thought you meant Raven."

"Raven?" he asks. He still feels like he hasn't caught up with this conversation.

"In the texts. You just said _her_ , so I went and showed her because, you know. Trying to be a good, selfless friend. And she laughed in my face, told me you absolutely weren't talking about _her_ , and that I should stop moping. And then I'm pretty sure she dragged Wells off to make out."

"Good for her."

"Yeah." She snuggles closer. "I love you too. And you look really unfairly hot in a suit."

"Thanks," he says. And then, because it still feels fucking _unreal_ , "Really?"

"Really."

When he tilts her chin up, she raises her head, and when he presses his mouth against hers, soft and chaste, she smiles into it.

"Fuck," he says, and actually _laughs_ with relief. She's grinning.

"That bad?" she teases, and he kisses her again, still brief, because they're on the dance floor at her mother's wedding, and he's been such a model citizen. He doesn't want to fuck that up. Not when Clarke will obviously make out with him later, in private, a lot.

Because she loves him.

"The worst," he says, and they make it two more songs before she drags him off the dance floor so they can say goodbye to her mom and leave.

It's a lot of restraint, as far as he's concerned.

*

**Miller** : Did you die  
Did the wedding kill you

**Me** : Nope.  
Still alive.  
Not coming home tonight, btw.  
Best wedding ever.


End file.
